By Kim Butts

Living in these difficult days requires leaning into God with all we have! It is so easy to fall into despair, or to be filled with anxiety. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be a target for the Enemy when we let our guard down.  As a friend of mine, Bill Elliff, recently quoted, “Don’t let the Devil rent space in your head.” This is great advice! The Devil would definitely like to take up residence to destroy our minds and our trust in the One whose…”divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

During the Collegiate Day of Prayer, held on the campus of Asbury University in February of 2023, a young college student gave a powerful testimony. She talked about how anxiety and depression “characterize” her generation and that she had suffered for many years with such feelings. However, after several days of experiencing the nearness and presence of God in the Asbury Outpouring, she said, “I wish I could say that my anxiety and depression was gone, but it isn’t. The difference is that because of Jesus, it no longer has the victory over me!”

Here is a short prayer guide to help you fight back when the enemy of our souls is tempting you to sink into anxiety, despair, depression or defeat:

• Praise God as your Helper: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

Pray: Father, You have given me the Holy Spirit to help me, to guide me, to reveal truth to me, and to remain in me always. Help me to seek out the Spirit’s help whenever the world lies to me and tells me I am not enough, or that my situation is impossible to conquer. May I trust His guidance through the pitfalls and darkness of a culture that seeks to destroy me, so that instead, I can focus on the promises of the word of God which teaches me the culture of heaven.

• Thank Him for being your Immanuel (the God who is always with you):

“Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them; for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Pray: Immanuel, thank You for always being with me in all things and wherever I find myself. I believe Your word that tells me to be strong and courageous in the face of people and circumstances that make me feel less than all You have created me to be. I trust You to remain at my side always, guiding me and protecting me from lies, doubt, discouragement, anxiety, dark thoughts, or anything else that would try to keep me from the light of Your perfect presence.

• Pour out your heart in confession for the times when you have doubted that God’s love and power has surrounded you completely, guarding your life:

“You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me” (Ps. 139:5).

Pray: Lord Jesus, forgive me for doubting that You are able to do far more abundantly beyond all that I could ever ask or think according to the power that works within me. Forgive me for forgetting that the One who lives within me is greater than the world. I’m sorry that I fall short of living into the power and purpose of the life of Christ in me, the hope of glory! Help me to quickly remember how to fight back when I am tempted to allow struggle, anxiety, hurt, pain or any other emotion to overwhelm me! You alone have the victory in my life!

• Commit the times of your life into God’s hands:

“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me” (Ps. 31: 14-15).

Pray: O Lord, I trust in You because You are my God! All of my times are in Your hand, every second of every hour of every day! Please deliver me from dark and evil situations, from people who are not following in Your ways and want me to join them, and from those who would harm me physically, spiritually or emotionally. O Lord, I trust in You, for You are my God!

• Ask the Father to show you how close He is to you as you call on Him and trust in Him:

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

Pray: Father, I know in my head and through Scripture that You are near when I call to You in truth! Help that knowledge to go from my head to my heart! May I always sense the peace of Your presence in my life so that sin, evil, darkness, anxiety, depression and so many other problems can’t overwhelm me or defeat me! Show me how to trust You enough to experience Your victory in all things and through any situation that I face!

As you use these Scriptures and prayers to jumpstart the prayers of your own heart, let this blessing take root in your life as God answers:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).